Retention or vise combination

ABSTRACT

1. A VISE COMPRISING: A. A BASE, B. A PAIR OF JAW MEMBERS HAVING CONFRONTING GENERALLY FLAT, PARALLEL FACES, ONE OF SAID JAW MEMBERS BEING MOVABLY MOUNTED TO SAID BASE AND THE OTHER OF SAID JAW MEMBERS BEING FIXABLY MOUNTED TO SAID BASE, C. ADJUSTING MEANS MOUNTED TO SAID BASE AND TO SAID MOVABLY MOUNTED JAW MEMBER IN ORDER TO VARY THE SPAN BETWEEN SAID CONFRONTING FACES AND TO APPLY FORCE IN ORDER TO ENGAGE A WORKPIECE DISPOSED THEREBETWEEN, D. AT LEAST ONE RECESS FORMED IN EACH OF SAID CONFRONTING JAW FACES, A RECESS IN ONE JAW FACE BEING POSITIONED GENERALLY OPPOSITE A CORRESPONDING RECESS IN THE OTHER JAW FACE, AN INCLINED SURFACE BEING PROVIDED IN EACH RECESS SUCH THAT EACH CORRESPONDING PAIR OF RECESSES CONFRONT EACH OTHER SUCH THAT THE INCLINED SURFACES CONVERGE IN ONE DIRECTION AND DIVERGE IN THE OTHER, E. A FRICTION ROLLER DISPOSED IN EACH RECESS AND RESILIENTLY ATTACHED TO ITS ASSOCIATED INCLINED SURFACE BY RESILIENT   MEANS SUCH THAT THE ROLLER CONTACTS THE INCLINED SURFACE OF THE RECESS, THE ROLLING AXIS OF THE ROLLER BEING PARALLEL TO THE INCLINED SURFACE, TO PERMIT MOVEMENT OF THE ROLLER IN THE DIRECTIONS OF CONVERGENCE AND DIVERGENCE SAID FRICTION ROLLER BEING RETAINED SUCH THAT IN A REST POSITION IT PROJECTS PARTIALLY BEYOND THE RECESS IN WHICH IT IS MOUNTED, AND IN A WORKPIECE ENGAGING POSITION, EACH ROLLER ENGAGES AND RESTRAINS MOVEMENT OF THE WORKPIECE IN TE DIRECTION OF CONVERGENCE OF THE INCLINED SURFACE EACH ROLLER, RECESS AND RESILIENT MEANS BEING ARRANGED SUCH THAT EACH ROLLER MAY RECEDE INTO ITS RECESS UPON APPLICATION OF SUFFICIENT FORCE BY THE ADJUSTMENT MEANS, WHEREBY THE FACE OF THE JAWS MAY BE BROUGHT INTO ENGAGEMENT WITH THE WORKPIECE.

United States Patent 1191 Merola [45 Dec. 24,1974

[ RETENTION OR VISE COMBINATION [75] Inventor Anthony Merola, Pittsburgh, Pa.

[73] Assignee: Amerola Products Corporation,

Pittsburgh, Pa.

22 Filedz Nov. 10,1971

21 Appl. No.: 197,222

Related U.S. Application Data Continuation-impart of Ser. No. 825,369, May 16,

l 9 6 9 gz tt. No. 3,653,708

521 U.S. c1. 0 1 35, 2 591275 51 1111.01 B23q 3/00 1 Field of Search.. 24/126 B, 136 A, 244, 255 R; 269/134, 135, 138, 246, 250, 263, 267, 268,

27s; 294/94 R, 86 R, 114, DIG. 1, D10. 2

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,796,764 3/1931 Perry 269/275 X 2,968,977 1/1961 Wheeler 269/246 X FOREIGN PATENTS OR APPLICATIONS 916,549 1/1963 Great Britain 269/134 Primary ExaminerHarold D. Whitehead Assistant Examiner-Gary L. Smith Attorney, Agent, or Firm-Walter G. Sutcliff [57] ABSTRACT An improved retention or hold-down combination for engaging a workpiece and restraining it from movement. The combination includes at least one pair of confronting, converging roller surfaces and associated rollers resiliently mounted thereon, whereby the rollers engage the workpiece and restrain movement of the workpiece in the direction of convergence of the roller surfaces. An improved vise combination wherein the workpiece can be restrained from move ment in all directions with application of a minimal engagement force from the engaging rollers for holding fragile or easily-marred objects.

3 Claims, 4 Drawing Figures 1 RETENTION OR VISE COMBINATION CROSS-REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION This application is a continuation-in-part application of copending application Ser. No. 825,369 filed May 16, 1969 entitled Gripping Device, which is issued as US. Pat. No. 3,653,708, Apr. 4, 1972. The teachings of which patent are incorporated by reference into the present application.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The aforementioned US. Pat. No. 3,653,708 details a material handling gripping device which permits engagement and handling of a great variety of materials, by providing a very simple yet efficient mechanical structure for the device. The device basically employs a pair of spaced confronting, converging plate members having roller surfaces and rollers resiliently mounted thereon. The rollers engage a workpiece inserted therebetween and prevent movement of the workpiece in the direction of convergence of the plate members. The teachings of the aforementioned US. Pat. No. 3,653,708 are incorporated by reference into the present application.

An improved integral roller and resilient means for use with such a gripping device is taught in another copending application of the present inventor, Ser. No. 197,223, filed Nov. 10, 1971 entitled Adjustable Material Handling Device.

In clamping or tying down a workpiece or article, traditional mechanical systems have been utilized. A disadvantage of just about all such traditional clamping, tying or other such restraining systems, is that they rely upon application of substantial force which is transmitted to the article or workpiece. Such force can damage the workpiece or article which is being retained, and in general requires application of substantial counterforce to effect release of the article. The foregoing discussion applies to the standard vise which is used to restrain a workpiece during processing.

Present-day shipping and distribution systems emphasize standardized containers to hold the goods. Such containers must be restrained in position during shipment to prevent damage to the goods. The present hold-down assembly is especially suited for such restraining.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION A hold-down retention assembly is provided for restraining the movement of a workpiece or article. The assembly comprises a base member, with at least one pair of spaced, confronting, converging plate members constituting roller surfaces being connectable to the base member. A friction roller is associated with each roller surface and is connected thereto by resilient means extending between the roller and the roller surface. Each roller is thereby biased against its associated roller surface in the direction perpendicular to the roller surface when the rollers are at rest position. The resilient means, in conjunction with the associated roller surface, constitutes the sole support for the rollers. The rollers engage a workpiece or article therebetween to restrain movement of the article in the direction of convergence of the plate members.

In an embodiment of the present invention an improved vise is disclosed which permits engagement of the workpiece between such rollers mounted from converging, confronting roller surfaces provided in opposed jaw faces to permit engagement of the article with a minimum amount of force.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a plan view of an embodiment of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevational view of the embodiment shown in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a plan view partly in section of a vise embodiment of the present invention; and

FIG. 4 is a side elevational view partly in section of the vise embodiment of FIG. 3.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS The invention can be best understood by reference to the exemplary embodiments shown in the drawings. In FIGS. 1 and 2, a clamping or hold-down assembly 10 comprises a base member 11, from which extend pairs of spaced confronting, converging plate members 12 which constitute roller surfaces. A friction roller 13 is associated with each respective plate member 12, and is connected to plate member 12 by a resilient means 14 extending between the plate member and the roller. The type of resilient means 14 which can be employed is more fully described in the aforementioned copending applications, and an integral roller and resilient means is preferred. While two such pairs of confronting, converging plate members are shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, it is to be understood that only one such pair is required in the simplest embodiment of the present invention. The article 15 is easily inserted between the spaced rollers 13, since the resilient connection of the rollers permits the roller to move along the roller surfaces in the direction opposite from the direction of convergence of the plate members. Once the article 15 is in place, engaged by the rollers, the article cannot be moved in the direction of convergence of the plate members because of the wedging action of the rollers on the roller surfaces. The article is thus retained with minimum application of force.

Pivotally mounted release means 16 are mounted on the plate members 12 and comprise means for urging the roller 13 back along the direction opposite from the converging direction to permit the article to be freely removed from the assembly 10. Such a release means again requires a minimum of force, i.e., only the force required to offset the force exerted by the resiliency of means 14. The force is in no way related to the mass of article 15.

The embodiment shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 finds utility for firmly holding in place shipping containers or other such articles, for example, a battery against an automobile frame. While the article shown in the drawings has a regular generally square configuration, the assembly of the present invention is usable with irregular objects as well.

In another embodiment of the present invention, a vise 17 is seen in FIGS. 3 and 4. The vise 17 comprises a conventional frame member 18 upon which are mounted fixed jaw member 19 and movable jaw member 20. A screw adjustment means 21 is provided for effecting movement of jaw along the frame 18 to vary the gap or span between jaws l9 and 20. The foregoing comprises a conventional vise. The vise 17 of the present invention has at least one recess portion 22 provided in each opposed jaw face surface 23, and preferably a plurality of such recess portions. Confronting, converging roller surfaces 24 are provided in the recess portions 22, with friction rollers being resilently held against its associated roller surface 24 by resilient means 26. Each respective pair of rollers 25 are thus maintained in opposed parallel relationship. In the embodiment shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 there are a total of four such pairs of rollers and roller surfaces, in order to restrain movement of the article which the rollers engage in the direction vertical to the frame, as well as in the direction parallel to the jaw faces. The adjustment means 21, and jaws 19 and 20 restrain movement of the article in the direction normal to the jaw faces. Thus, the article is restrained from movement in all directions. Release means 27 are provided with each roller 25 in the same way as release means 15 already described. The use of four such pairs of rollers and roller surfaces thus lock the article in place with only the rollers being in contact with the article. The article cannot be moved in any direction if the movable jaw is stationary without employing the release means to urge the rollers away from the article. The rollers are urged along the roller surfaces in the direction of divergence with respect to the given pair of roller surfaces.

The recess portions 22 are large enough to fully accept the roller 25 therein so that no part of the roller 25 extends beyond the jaw face 23. Application of sufficient adjustment force via means 21 will act to force each roller back within the associated recess portion 22 to permit engagement of the article by jaw faces 23 if so desired.

In summary, the present invention permits retention of a workpiece or other such article with application of a minimum amount of force. This permits firm and secure handling of otherwise fragile or easily marred objects.

I claim:

1. A vise comprising:

a. a base; I

b. a pair of jaw members having confronting generally flat, parallel faces, one of said jaw members being movably mounted to said base and the other of said jaw members being fixably mounted to said base;

0. adjusting means mounted to said base and to said movably mounted jaw member in order to vary the span between said confronting faces and to apply force in order to engage a workpiece disposed therebetween;

d. at least one recess formed in each of said confronting jaw faces, a recess in one jaw face being positioned generally opposite a corresponding recess in the other jaw face, an inclined surface being provided in each recess such that each corresponding pair of recesses confront each other such that the inclined surfaces converge in one direction and diverge in the other;

. a friction roller disposed in each recess and resiliently attached to its associated inclined surface by resilient means such that the roller contacts the inclined surface of the recess, the rolling axis of the roller being parallel to the inclined surface, to permit movement of the roller in the directions of convergence and divergence said friction roller being retained such that in a rest position it projects partially beyond the recess in which it is mounted, and in a workpiece engaging position, each roller en gages and restrains movement of the workpiece in the direction of convergence of the inclined surface, each roller, recess and resilient means being arranged such that each roller may recede into its recess upon application of sufficient force by the adjustment means, whereby the face of the jaws may be brought into engagement with the workpiece.

2. The vise as defined in claim 1 having a plurality of associated rollers, recesses, and resilient means on each jaw face so as to provide a plurality of opposed pairs of rollers and associated surfaces whereby a workpiece engaged therebetween may be restrained from movements vertically with respect to the base and laterally in a direction generally parallel to the jaw faces and the base.

3. The vise as defined in claim 1 including release means operatively connected to each roller whereby a workpiece being held by roller pair between the jaws may be released without further adjustment of the adjusting means. 

